Red zone will get plenty of attention at mini, training camps

Tip No. 1 for fans heading to training camp next month at the Alamodome: Plan your trips to the concession stand around the red zone drills

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The Dallas Cowboys’ work inside the 20-yard line is expected to be spirited after the club ranked 18th in the league last season with an average of 4.48 points per red zone series.

It’s an alarming statistic considering the Cowboys finished second in the league in total offense.

Bottom line: Dallas struggled to translate yardage into points.

“There is a lot more people in a condensed area,” quarterback Tony Romo said when asked about the club’s red zone inefficiency. “They don’t have to respect you running right past them 60 yards because there is only 20 yards of field. In that sense, the window becomes a little smaller. You have to come up with different things to allow your team to gain an advantage.

“We are looking into all those things. It helps to do it a little bit longer, a little bit faster, a little bit stronger.”

The red zone offense will also be a point of emphasis during mandatory three-day minicamp, which begins Friday. Training camp starts July 23.

Dallas averaged 399.4 total yards last season, but it ranked just 14th in points (22.6). This disparity was best illustrated in a 20-17 December loss to San Diego in which the Chargers limited Dallas to a field goal over drives that included first downs at the 16-, 3-, and 27-yards lines.

During the pivotal middle possession, San Diego stuffed Marion Barber three times, including on fourth-and-goal.

“We have to eliminate the negative plays we had (inside the red zone),” offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. “A number of times we got into the red zone, and then we got ourselves back out of the red zone by a penalty or a minus play.”

Romo said he thinks it’s a matter of the offense playing with more grit.

“We got to have the extra toughness for the extra yard or two,” Romo said. “And I’m not talking about handing off at the one and getting into the end zone. I’m talking about a guy going to the one and taking two hits and getting it in.”

The passing game also struggled inside the 20. Romo registered a woeful red zone passer rating of 81.5 to rank 22nd in the league.

Romo threw three interceptions inside the red zone, a number exceeded by only two quarterbacks.

To aid Romo, the club selected Dez Bryant in the first round. Bryant joins Miles Austin and Roy Williams to give Romo three big targets among the wideouts.

Romo also has big targets in tight ends Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett.

“When you have this many weapons,” Romo said, “they’re not going to be able to take away everybody.”

Notes: Bryant’s status for minicamp is uncertain after he tweaked a hamstring in Tuesday’s voluntary practice…Linebacker Keith Brooking is expected to return today after missing all the voluntary workouts while recovering from knee surgery.